


The Way To A Man's Heart is Apparently Purple Hoodies

by respoftw



Series: Tumblr Prompts - Hawksilver edition [22]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Secret Admirer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-24
Updated: 2015-05-24
Packaged: 2018-03-31 23:46:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3997744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/respoftw/pseuds/respoftw
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anonymous said to pietrolovesclint:</p><p>Prompt: Clint keeps a "nest" in a hidden location, other than his room. Some rafters or crawlspace or something. He does not like other people knowing about or tampering with his nest, but the gifts that have been left there recently are actually super sweet and thoughtful, so...</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Way To A Man's Heart is Apparently Purple Hoodies

For all the jokes Tony makes about Hawkeye and his “nests”, Clint is touched when he discovers the loose ceiling tile in his bedroom. I mean, realistically, he would have found a way to access the ceiling space anyway but it's nice that Tony has made it a bit easier for him.

 

Most people seem to think that his need for a space away from everyone else is a hold over from his SHIELD days. It's true that he worked alone more often than not (or as alone as he could get with Coulson in his damn ear) and it's true that he sees (and thinks) better from a distance but the need for a space of his own started much earlier.

 

Barney had been the one to set up his first “nest”. A blanket and toy filled crawlspace that Clint could hide in when their Dad was on the warpath.

 

It's hard to change the habits of a lifetime.

 

So Clint has his own space up in the ceiling space of Avengers HQ. It's where he goes when the annoyances of communal living gets too much. It's where he goes when he needs to think about a problem and, more commonly these days, when he wants to hide from a certain hyperactive Avenger.

 

It's _his_ space, not even Natasha would intrude on that, which is why he's more than a little put out to see the wrapped present sitting in the middle of his nest.

 

It's an indication of just how fucked up his life is that his first thought is that it's a trap. After carefully checking the package for wires or pressure points he's fairly convinced it's not a bomb but that doesn't rule out a whole host of other nasty surprises that could be waiting under the lurid Avengers themed wrapping paper.

 

He (very carefully) takes the package to get checked out.

 

A crowd of curious Avengers gather as Vision scans the package for any known poisons, bombs or any other kind of threat.

 

“I'm delighted to say, Clint, that the package appears to be harmless. Perhaps you would care to open it?”

 

Clint warily takes the parcel from Vision and starts to leave the room, planning to open whatever the hell this is in private. Natasha has other ideas and snaps it out of his hands and starts to rip it open. “Oh no, we are opening this thing here. We all want to see what the fuss was about.”

 

It turns out all the fuss was over a perfectly normal, fetchingly purple, hoodie.

 

“Seriously, Clint? All this drama over a hoodie?” Nat throws the item of clothing at him as if it had personally offended her.

 

“Like you wouldn't have done the same thing.” Clint snaps, holding the hoodie close to him. He can't help but notice that it's incredibly soft (and purple). “I still have no idea where it came from.”

 

“It's obvious” Wanda grins delightedly. “You have a secret admirer.”

 

The only thing stopping him from glaring at Wanda is the fact that he would never glare at his favourite person in the Avengers (who was also possibly the most terrifying member of the Avengers, although he would never tell Nat he thought that). But the idea of someone having a crush on him is ridiculous and he won't dignify it with a response. He will, however, wear the hoodie. Because it's comfortable as hell (and purple). But after that he's putting this whole thing out of his mind.

 

His game plan works until he heads up to his nest a few days later to find a pair of archery gloves sitting on his makeshift coffee table (ok, it's an overturned milk cart but it does the job). The gloves are sitting under a handmade cardboard sign that reads:

 

These are not a weapon of mass destruction.

They are a gift.

Idiot.

 

Clint smiles at the note. It's obviously Natasha still making fun of him for his supposed over reaction on the whole (purple) hoodie debacle. He was just talking to her the other day about needing a new pair of gloves.

 

He pulls the gloves on without a second thought, knowing that the sooner that he starts breaking these things in the better, and almost moans at how good they feel. Damn, Nat had gone all out. These were high quality gloves.

 

He makes a note to get her something special in return. Maybe a new stiletto blade?

 

The funny thing is, when he presents Natasha with her new blade a few days later she claims to know nothing about the gloves. Maybe he does have a secret admirer?

 

Things go to hell for a little bit after that. The new line-up of the Avengers get their first high profile fight as they beat off a hoard of invading aliens. They all live to fight another day but it's a close thing for some of them and the fall out lasts a while.

 

Clint had almost forgotten about his gift-leaving visitor but they hadn't forgotten about him.

 

It's drumsticks this time and Clint might amuse himself for a while in his nest by air-drumming the greatest hits of Led Zeppelin. He knows they're definitely not from Natasha this time. For one thing, Nat hates his drumming. She loves to listen him play piano but anytime the drumsticks come out she's out the door like a shot. Another clue that they aren't from her is the note:

 

These gifts are not from Natasha.

It's getting a little embarrassing how clueless you are.

 

Secret Admirer seems less of an admirer and more of an antagonist sometimes, which Clint secretly kind of likes. The thing is, it _is_ a little embarrassing. He has no clue who is leaving these gifts. I mean, it's obviously not one of the Avengers. Tony and Steve are happily spoken for, Rhodey and Sam are as straight as they come, Vision is a robot (and clearly in love with Wanda), and Wanda is like a daughter to him.

 

That still leaves the dozens of SHIELD agents who work out of Avengers HQ though. He can't let some second tier agent get the better of him and determines to start investigating.

 

Two days later he's still as clueless as ever. He'd spent most of those days tailing the agents, spying on them, trying to see if anyone was talking about him. And while he now knows more than he ever wanted to know about a lot of strangers' sex lives, he's no closer to finding his secret admirer.

 

His next gift lets him know he had been looking in completely the wrong place. No one here has the clearance level necessary to know that Hawkeye is actually deaf. Fury insists on keeping that need-to-know, in case the detail is leaked, exposing a weakness that could be exploited.

 

So, the replacement batteries for his regular hearing aid, the one he wears on down time, when they're not in the field, can only mean that it is one of the Avengers. Or Fury. And Clint really hopes it's not Fury.

 

There's no note this time, the gift giver obviously realising that their choice of gift would automatically tell Clint that he had been looking in the wrong place. He's more confused than ever though. He's already gone through all the Avengers. Nat, Tony, Steve, Rhodey, Sam, Vision, Wanda, Piet - - .

 

_Holy shit, it's Pietro._

 

Of course it is. How could he be so stupid? Those notes positively reeked of the kid's cocky arrogance. Clint hadn't even considered the speedster before.

 

Honestly, Clint spends a lot of time _not_ thinking about Pietro Maximoff. When his mind does tend to wander towards Pietro it has a tendency to wander into decidedly not safe for work territory and the kid is young enough to be his son. He already considers Wanda a surrogate daughter and the feelings that he has for his “daughters” brother makes him feel more than a little skeezy.

 

But now that he knows Pietro just might reciprocate those feelings? Well, it's not like they're _actually_ family. And Wanda had been so excited when Clint got his (purple) hoodie. There's no way she didn't know what her brother was up to, right?

 

Clint could actually be allowed to _have_ this, to be happy. But first, he needs to get Pietro back for making him look a fool for the past month.

 

*

 

Never let it be said that Clint Barton is not a patient man. But waiting for Pietro to make his next move has been killing him. He wants to just grab the kid and tell him that he knows, he wants to just grab the kid and haul him to his bedroom, but he has a plan. And he needs to be patient.

 

It finally comes. The alarm that he had installed on his phone beeps excitedly at him as he is sitting watching a Disney film with Wanda. Clint grins like a loon and jumps off from the couch, shouting his apologies for leaving over his shoulder, missing the pleased whisper of “Finally!” from her as he runs out the room.

 

He knows that he only has two minutes to get to his nest. He'd set up a trap for Pietro, an alarm that would trigger if anyone enters his nest and a pulse of energy that would safely incapacitate the speedster for two minutes. He makes it with seconds to spare, grinning as Pietro gingerly moves his limbs, the paralytic effects of the pulse wearing off.

 

“You couldn't have just told me you knew?” Pietro curses at him.

 

“You couldn't have just told me you liked me?” Clint rebuts.

 

He should probably be worried that their first exchange now that they both know is snarky and argumentative but he can't wipe the smile from his face. This is how he and Pietro work, it's how they operate and Clint is looking forward to the challenge.

 

“Are you hear to tell me you're not interested?” Pietro sounds cautious.

 

“No, I'm hear to see what gift you've left this time.”

 

Pietro gestures to the milk cart, where an obviously hand made plush of Hawkeye sits. Clint laughs and holds it close. “You made this?”

 

Pietro's ears blush red. “You were upset that there was no Hawkeye in the ones that are being sold in the shops, I thought you might like it.”

 

“I love it.”

 

“So you don't want me to stop with the gifts?” Pietro asks hopefully.

 

“The gifts need to stop.” Clint hurries to finish as he watches Pietro's face fall in disappointment. “But, I was hoping we could start with the actual dating.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Yeah. It's not everyone who would make me my very own cuddly me. You know you should make a Quicksilver one as well. I think they'd go well together.”

 

Pietro's smile is wide and open. “I think so too.”

 

*

 

It's hard to change the habits of a lifetime.

 

Clint likes his alone space, his nests.

 

Turns out, though, that sharing his nest with someone else is pretty damn nice.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi on [Tumblr](http://pietrolovesclint.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Huge thanks to tumblr users liandrin, cateyescurvesandcurls, classypeacebluebird, fallenangelwiththetardis, reddobastard and a couple of anons for helping me think of gifts that Pietro could leave!


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